subject: Do Online Movie Downloads Mean The End Of The Rental Store? [print this page] When a London company announced several years ago that it was offering the first legal service to Download You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger Movie Online for Free, video store owners around the world began worrying about their future.
After all, average citizens all have a larcenous streak. Why not get something for free? A key reason is that downloading movies on the internet without paying is illegal -- a violation of a number of federal laws. Don't feel any risk? Remembers the very public examples that law enforcement made of unauthorized music downloaders several years ago? So, if you are downloading movies illegally, ask yourself if you really want to hear your name on the cable news shows?
Another reason to avoid illegal downloads is quality. Viruses are one more reason. The creators of viruses constantly have to devise new and clever ways to infect the unsuspecting public.
Just a few months ago, somebody sitting at their home computer uploaded a high-quality copy of a newly released film onto a certain illegal person-to-person file-sharing network. Within weeks, that one file had been downloaded by 30,408 people on six continents. Dozens of other illegal copies of the movie found their way onto the hard drives of many thousands more.
Does online piracy endanger Hollywood? Of course money is being lost. But Hollywood has learned to study the pirates. Their successes actually signal untapped marketing opportunities. Not so very long ago, Hollywood resisted the development of VHS and DVD marketing. The studios feared that home movies would negatively impact box-office receipts. However, the home viewing market has expanded markets for moviemakers. Today, many films never make it to a theater. They go directly to DVD. Have you ever heard of YouTube? With its new popularity, suddenly anybody can be a filmmaker -- sharing their latest video creation or propaganda attempt or religious inspiration or hilarious home video with millions of people worldwide in a matter of hours.
So, yes, Hollywood will be smart to continue adapting today's ever-changing technologies. Several studios have worked out a deal with a file-sharing site that rents movies, which can be downloaded, but which self-destruct after viewing! Where will that go? Only time will tell.
In fact, the downloadable movie market is booming. Studios will be smart to study today's ever-changing technologies -- and every move of internet pirates.
